We need to talk
by MadHitman
Summary: Set in season 2. Caroline has a guilty conscience and breaks up with Connor, after telling him the truth. He is visibly hurt and Abby is there to comfort him. Could something more come from this unhoped-for situation?


Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or anything associated with it.

Hello again, guys :) Here is my second piece of work and it is another one-shot. It is seat in season 2, but before 2.4. Have fun reading!

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„We need to talk"

Connor wasn't exactly experienced in relationships or understanding women, but it was common knowledge that these four words usually meant trouble. He had already been surprised when Caroline had called him yesterday in the middle of the night, asking if they could meet in the park today. Though the answer to his half-conscious question "Why?" had him nervous for the whole next day at the ARC. Fortunately for him there was no anomaly alarm, which meant he could be there in time. He even was, uncharacteristically, ten minutes early. That gave his brain the time to go through all the worst-case scenarios of what could happen when Caroline would arrived.

If it wasn't for his worries of relationship issues, which was something he thought he'd never have not to long ago, it actually would have been a very nice day. It seemed like the stereotypically rainy London wanted to prove the world wrong on this sunny day. It was a lovely afternoon in late summer and Connor found himself enjoying the idyllic atmosphere and the light summer breeze. It brought a nice change from being chased by dinosaurs; imagine that. While sitting there, twiddling his gloved thumbs and waiting for Caroline, he wondered what Abby was doing. She had just returned from yoga class when he was about to go. Probably was taking a shower now… he flushed slightly and shook the thought off. Out of the corner of his eye he registered a movement and turned his head to see Caroline approach. Something was _off _about her. There wasn't as much purpose in her steps, she seemed not as confident as usual.

Connor then stood up to greet her with a hug and kiss her on the cheek, something that still made him blush.

"Hey. How are you?" He stepped back again and now that he looked at her, he couldn't help but notice Caroline appeared tired, like after a sleepless night.

She smiled weakly. "I would have to lie to say I'm fine. Would you mind walking with me a bit?"

He shook his head and took her hand in silence, as they started walking. This was definitely not normal, because regularly she didn't need to ask for his approval. Something had to be going on in her head and it surely didn't reassure him. Connor now really began to wonder was going on, yet he decided not to speak up, at least not now. He guessed it was better to just let her gather her thoughts and let her begin when she's ready. If he had learned something in the months living with Abby and the weeks knowing Caroline, it was his new rule number one when dealing with women. "If she wants her space, you give her space." He liked to believe that saved him from one argument or another.

That train of thought ended when Caroline stopped and turned around to him. "I said that we need to talk."

Connor remained silent and tried to read the look in her eyes, which remained distant.

She audibly took a deep breath, as if she reluctantly willed herself to continue. "You will not like what I have to say. But please let me finish."

He swallowed and nodded. This did not bode well for him.

"I have to break up with you."

Boom. That made an impact.

"What? Why? I-" he let go of her and raised his hands.

"Connor!" Caroline exclaimed to stop his sudden outburst. "Let me explain. _Please_." The pleading look in her eyes and her wavering voice managed to keep him calm on the outside.

On the inside, however, his thoughts were racing what went wrong. Was this about him and Abby? This and a myriad of questions kept his mind restless.

"None of this is your fault." She began, aiming for a soothing voice, although she had problems controlling her own feelings. "I messed this up from the beginning and I can't keep lying to you. You don't deserve that. I didn't cheat on you, if that's what you think. But it may be even worse." She fought back some tears that were threatening to break her ability to pull through with this. She owed him this much at least. "Me meeting you in that DVD store didn't happen by chance, Connor. I was paid and given information about you… I was supposed to keep you away from… whatever it is you do when you get these phone calls. That's why I got in a relationship with you in the first place."

To say she felt terrible was a huge understatement. The huge weight that fell of her shoulders was now replaced with the fear of what was to come and the look in his eyes was eating away on her insides.

He looked like puppy that had been shot right in the heart by his owner, as he stumbled through all kinds of words. "W-Who… Who would-?"

"I can't tell you. I would only bring myself in danger." Caroline hated herself even more for sounding so selfish.

Connor only nodded. He seemed to have gone numb by now. "Why are you telling me this then? You could've just walked away."

She flinched at the new indifference in his voice. "Like I said, you deserve better." Despite her efforts a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Is this goodbye then?"

"Just one more thing." The brunette sniffed. "I've seen the way you look at Abby." He opened his mouth in protest, but she stopped him with a finger on his lips and her own twitched in a sad smile. "It's okay, Connor. I'm neither blind nor stupid. I guess I always would have been the second women in your life… that only seems fair right now. Just from the looks she gave, I assume that feeling is not one-sided."

The paleontology student in front of her just shrugged. "I don't know what to say…"

"Then I should go. I'm sorry, Connor."

He didn't resist when she hugged him and gave him a last kiss on his cheek. This time he didn't blush, no, he felt rather cold even though sun was still shining. As both of them let go, he simply whispered "Goodbye, Caroline." and they parted ways. Neither of them looked back, probably because it was easier that way. This wasn't right, thought Connor. The sun was still shining, almost ironically, and not a single cloud could be seen. If his life were a movie it would be raining, maybe there'd even be a thunderstorm. The way home didn't feel longer than normal and he didn't know why he had expected that. Nobody had ever broken up with him like that before and aside from that, he never felt betrayed like that.

After closing the front door of the floor as quietly as possible he plopped down on the couch. Wherever Abby was at the moment, he was perfectly content with being to himself by now. Making any further noise by climbing the creaky stairs up to his room would inevitably lead to a conversation he may not have been ready for. So for now he tried to find comfort in the warmth of the light that fell on him through the windows. He blinked a few times to get rid of the itchy feeling in his eyes. Right then Connor realized how tired he had become. It always astonished him how the human psyche affected the body. With that thought he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift asleep.

His eyes snapped open again when he felt the cushions shift next to him after what could have been either minutes or hours. He could tell it was Abby without even looking.

"You're back already. How was your date with Caroline?" The tone of her voice indicated that she didn't really care and was asking for the sake of conversation.

Connor then sat up, still feeling slightly dizzy. "Not… that great, really."

"Oh?" Abby wanted to kick herself for suddenly sounding a lot more interested. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh, no. She actually wanted to… to break up." He said, avoiding her eyes.

"Caroline broke up with you?" The blonde repeated his words louder than she wanted, maybe because of the unexpected revelation.

He sat in silence and nodded silently, his gaze directed at the switched off television, as if it could give him some answers. Abby had never understood what he could possibly in that 'cold' woman, but she knew the dreaded pain of someone important abruptly leaving your life. So she inched a little closer to Connor and carefully put an arm around his waist. At first she could feel him tense under her touch before he relaxed and let his head droop on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Connor." She whispered and he snorted.

"No you're not. You hated her."

At that she gasped audibly. "Well, I'm still sorry she hurt you! Why would she even… what was her reason?"

This was going to suck, Connor could tell, so he decided to tell the sort version and try to live it down. "She didn't want to lie anymore. The whole thing was a fake to keep us away from the anomalies."

"I knew it!" Abby turned around to him, almost knocking him out with her shoulder. "I knew there was something wrong about her!"

Too late she realized that upon her exclamation his face had crumpled even more. This was definitely not what he wanted to hear right now, she immediately apologized to him.

"If there's anything I can do… just let me know, okay?"

"I'm fine." He mumbled, not even noticing the tear that now made its way down his cheek.

Abby shook her head. "No, you're not. You're crying." She raised her hand and softly wiped away the droplets on his face.

He couldn't bring himself to care at the moment and shrugged. "I just – I feel…" The words were stuck in his throat then.

In that very moment she could take it anymore. The expression of his eyes, the pain in his voice and the helplessness he literally radiated instantly overrode any logic thought. She felt overcome by the need to abandon every doubt she had in the last week. Before even Abby knew what she was doing herself, she was already kissing Connor full on the mouth. She just wanted him to be able to forget his sorrow, if only for now. Slow and cautious her lips moved against his, momentarily erasing every thought from his mind. It was only meant as comfort as it started out, yet they both became more passionate and-

Both of them jolted apart, as both of their phones simultaneously ripped them out of their bliss. A second or two they just stared at each other before Abby snapped out of it and took the call.

"Anomaly in the tube. Somewhere between Ravenscourt and Stamford Brook. Let's go." She choked out, trying to sound indifferent, but wasn't able to hide the evident blush on her cheeks.

Now feeling mostly confused instead of heart-broken, he followed her and got in the car. It was absolutely nothing new that she acted that impulse, but she really picked her moments. It left him with pretty much no reassurance of what to do now. He could swear that this kiss meant something more. Something, which had Abby had been surprised by herself and that she now needed to think about. If only there weren't those doubts nagging on his faith in his instincts.

On the other side of the car, behind the steering wheel, Abby berated herself for what she had just done. She had left Connor utterly confused and herself probably even more so. Would it have been that hard to say a few words to clarify things? Apparently yes, since she wasn't clear on her on thoughts after she had kissed him. In consequence the drive across London traffic was spent in an awkward silence, which the annoying radio didn't ease a bit. Finally they arrived at the abandoned _Ravenscourt_ underground station that already had been secured by ARC soldiers and other government officials. Those always appeared to be there just in time to give them, _the amateurs, _weird looks when they flashed their government ID's and marched right past them.

They then came down the stairs, where Nick and Stephen were waiting for them. Jenny was somewhere else, already inventing a story to explain a total stop of traffic for multiple hours.

Cutter nodded curtly to greet them. "Good to see you. We already got the clearance to step on the rails, the tranquilizers and flashlights are here, too. Let's not waste time."

After he handed each one flashlight, the four of them jumped down from the platform and started their way along the tube. As soon as they left the friendly light of the station, the darkness seemed to swallow them up. Aside from some scarce light spread by way too old lamps they had to rely on their flashlights in order to see anything down here. The hollow echo of their steps as well as some leaking pipe, continuously dripping added to the eerie feeling. Connor, who always had been a little bit claustrophobic, tried to convince himself that there was nothing to worry about. If anything came through the anomaly it could only come from ahead of them. Plus, the darkness would make it easier to spot the glistening anomaly in the first place.

It turned out he was right. Despite of the slight curve of the cube the team could already see it from a distance, the dim light creeping around the corners.

"We don't know if anything has come out yet." Stephen stated in his usual, calm manner.

"Right." Cutter agreed. "Stephen and I will continue going in this direction to see if a creature went there. You two stay here."

With those words the pair of Nick and Steven swiftly passed the anomaly and disappeared in the darkness again, leaving Abby and Connor to themselves again. Naturally the kept facing the anomaly, just in case something would come through. Or that was at least the reason they pretended to have. Though every now and them both of them were stealing glances at each other. Grudgingly Connor had to admit that in the light of the atmosphere, Abby almost looked angelic. That made the thought of her just kissing him out of pity even more miserable.

"Connor, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" she saw him look away and cursed herself for constantly saying the wrong things.

He stared at the wall left to him, mainly to hide his face. It was an open secret that she could read him like a book. She was sorry for _kissing him._ Could it get any worse? While trying to ignore those kinds of thoughts, he noticed it had gotten a lot warmer in the tunnel. Not in _that _way, but the temperature of the air must have risen significantly, since he could already feel the sweat on this forehead. On the other side of the anomaly it must have been hot like hell.

"Connor!" called Abby once more.

Please, not again…

"Connor!" this time, panic was mixed with restraint, as if she tried to be quiet.

Immediately he turned his head to see her staring wide-eyed at the anomaly. He looked a little farther and his heart began to race at the sight of a giant snake, winding her way through the gateway between past and present. The snake's head alone was almost 3 feet in diameter and he didn't dare imagine how long it would be, if he could see the whole body. _Titanoboa_, he remembered. The largest snake known to have ever lived on earth. Paleontologists estimated its length up to 50 feet. His legs felt cemented to the ground as he exchanged highly alerted looks with Abby.

"Don't move." He mouthed to her. Every unnecessary vibration of the ground meant unwanted attention from the deadly creature in front of them.

Of course she knew that, having been working with lizards and snakes half of her live. She still nodded and slowly raised the tranquilizer gun in her hands although it felt tiny and useless in comparison to the giant in front of them. Unsure of what to next, both of them settled for waiting and the next moments were spent in painful silence. They couldn't hear a single thing except the blood rushing through their veins and their hearts beating traitorously loud. Connor's nerves were strained to their maximum and he was ready to leap in a matter of split seconds, though he doubted that would be fast enough if the _Titanoboa_ decided to make him his first victim in the modern world.

He clenched his teeth hard to keep himself from jumping into Abby's arms as the snake slowly began to move. He could hear her gasp next to him but he didn't dare take his eyes off the predator for it could snap at any moment. It took him longer than it should to realize that the _Titanoboa _was actually retreating. Its massive head turned around and disappeared into the anomaly, soon followed by the rest of the black-scaled body. This didn't make any sense to Connor, because they wouldn't have had a chance in hell against it. Then it all clicked into place: The time period in which the _Titanoboa_ was at home was much hotter than today's earth. It simply didn't like the cold atmosphere of the London Underground.

He began to chuckle at this in addition to just being relieved. "Didn't like the cold." He told himself more than anyone else and his chuckle grew into laughter.

Abby, who by now had caught her breath and slowed her pulse to a nearly normal frequency, looked at him in disbelief. They could have been eaten alive a minute ago and he was laughing at this. Then she stopped at that thought. Both could have died just because they were too busy ignoring each other instead of watching the anomaly like they should have. And they never would have… never would have what? What was it she was expecting them to have done? In that instant she became conscious of the decision she had made. There were a lot of things she still wanted to do and it couldn't be coincidence most of them included the laughing man next to her.

He slowly calmed down and wanted to turn around to check on Abby but it was already to as she stood directly in front of him. Not giving him a chance to talk back she laid her head against his chest and closed her arms around his waist. Connor automatically responded and held her, while his mind was in a state of utter confusion. After an undeterminable amount of time he pulled back and the question on his lips was stopped by her fingers.

"You know… we were interrupted at home." She said in a low tone and smiled playfully. "Mind it if I finish?"

Remaining high on the adrenaline he threw caution in the wind. "No."

He hadn't even completely spoken the word when her hands wandered up to his neck and she kissed him again. This time he wasn't going to stay passive and immediately pulled her close again, yet he gave small gasp when he felt Abby's tongue against his lips. Connor opened his mouth and deepened their kiss, pouring as much of his feelings in to it as he could. After coming apart for brething purposes he was to learn that she still wasn't finished.

"What I meant to say… I love you."

There it was, out in the open. Right now, with the angelic glow from the anomaly on her face, she never looked as beautiful as now.

"I love you too."

Every moment now another creature could come through the anomaly. Or Cutter and Stephen could come back and interrupt them, but that didn't matter.

He had said it and she had, too.

And it was perfect.

Like their next kiss.

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So, I hope you liked it and that the drama/fluff/sappiness, whatever you want to call it, wasn't too much. In this I wanted to try my hand at using a twist in the story. Wouldn't be Connor and Abby if it was not at least a little complicated. Let me know if it worked. Oh, and how did you like my guilty conscience version of mean Caroline? I think she is a somewhat misunderstood character… But I'm getting off-topic. Have a good day :)


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